The Red Rings of Death strike again

Today I was hoping to bring you a review of the new 360 action-RPG Too Human. Unfortunately, my hardware had other ideas.

The Red Rings of Death syndrome

Yes, my Xbox 360 has given up the ghost. Again. Battling through a horde of biomechanical beasties, my screen froze and was filled with what can only be described as a giant pink chessboard.

After checking the disk and restarting, only a black screen greeted me, upon glimpsing down I saw my console blinking those three red lights that signal a critical hardware failure and permeate 360 owners nightmares- the Red Rings of Death.

This is the third time since the 360s launch in 2005 that I've seen the RRoD. On three separate consoles no less.

A core, premium and now an elite model have all died on me at a rate of one per year. I've never known a piece of electrical equipment like it.

Faulty 360s have cost Microsoft a repair bill that runs into the billions of dollars. I thought that with the Elite and an all new chip board that the RRoD was near enough eradicated, but that doesn't seem the case.

It's a real shame as in my opinion the 360 is far and away the best console on the market right now in terms of software, games and online integration.

What surprised me was my sense of resignation at the failure "Oh well, it lasted a whole year this time" I thought. That just isn't right.

For now I've left it unplugged to see if it will revive itself after a break. I'm not hopeful, so I expect I'll soon be onto the MS helpline. I wonder if they will recognise my voice by now.